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Graduation Rates and Bright Lines

In The News Piece in Inside Higher Ed

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Feb. 6, 2018

Clare McCann, deputy director for federal policy at New America’s Higher Education Initiative, praised the regional accreditors for taking some ownership of the debate about how best to consider student outcomes. But while the report showed progress in how accreditors factor in graduation rates, McCann said more work is needed.

“It's promising to see accreditors are no longer outwardly rejecting the notion that they should consider the outcomes of their institutions,” said McCann, who worked at the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration, which often was critical of accreditors’ oversight of for-profits. “But the C-RAC report definitely highlights that accreditors are a little behind the curve and have a long way to go to turn these heightened reviews into real action, and in considering other metrics that might be appropriate for evaluating colleges' performance.”